Students play a role in the quality of their education. But in my opinion, I feel as if the teachers and administrators have an even bigger role. For example when I was in high school, the administrators were very focused on keep the school under their control as oppose to focusing on learning. They were so concerned with being the authoritative role that the learning aspect of school got pushed under the rug. The deans and principal were consumed with keeping the school in "order"; things that really didn't matter that much in my opinion to education. For example, students would get in so much trouble for walking the halls without a pass, if they weren't in the correct dress code, or had snacks or coffee in the hallways and not in the cafeteria. They would focus all of their time and energy on making the school look perfect. In reality, they should have been looking into more of the teachers and students teaching and learning. As a result, the students were worried about getting in trouble for some house-keeping thing like wearing shorts that were too short or having a Dunkin coffee. The students should really be concerned with what they are learning instead. This definitely took away from the fact of the learning and the passion for learning or teaching for that matter in my school.
After reading this article, it made me understand the game of schooling. I was definitely a part of that game in high school. I would befriend my teachers, do whatever they said, and as a result would pass my classes being in the honor roll. Teachers gave out points for everything like participating or attending so that it looked like their students were all succeeding making them a successful teacher. Even now in college there is absolutely a game. I haven't noticed it as much in college as I did in high school but there is still some prevalence. Again, teachers give out points for house-keeping things like passing in homework and only having a few absences. Also, I have played the game of going to my teachers' office hours. Even if I am struggling in that particular class, I've learned that attending office hours can go a long way for getting the grade that you want although it may not be the grade you deserve.
I can also relate this to the article that we read in class at the beginning of the month about strategic versus deep learners. The game of school is absolutely based on strategic learners. They have learned the strategy to just get by in school and to get what they want for grades. Deep learners on the other hand have that passion for learning, that desire to learn about a variety of subjects and just getting good grades is a positive side result. To end the game of school and learning I think that students have to transform into more deep learners to get the most out of the quality of their education. Then as a result I think that the teachers and administration will hopefully come around and find that passion too for teaching their students.
After reading this article, it made me understand the game of schooling. I was definitely a part of that game in high school. I would befriend my teachers, do whatever they said, and as a result would pass my classes being in the honor roll. Teachers gave out points for everything like participating or attending so that it looked like their students were all succeeding making them a successful teacher. Even now in college there is absolutely a game. I haven't noticed it as much in college as I did in high school but there is still some prevalence. Again, teachers give out points for house-keeping things like passing in homework and only having a few absences. Also, I have played the game of going to my teachers' office hours. Even if I am struggling in that particular class, I've learned that attending office hours can go a long way for getting the grade that you want although it may not be the grade you deserve.
I can also relate this to the article that we read in class at the beginning of the month about strategic versus deep learners. The game of school is absolutely based on strategic learners. They have learned the strategy to just get by in school and to get what they want for grades. Deep learners on the other hand have that passion for learning, that desire to learn about a variety of subjects and just getting good grades is a positive side result. To end the game of school and learning I think that students have to transform into more deep learners to get the most out of the quality of their education. Then as a result I think that the teachers and administration will hopefully come around and find that passion too for teaching their students.